IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky on Disruption, Data and Privacy

IPG's new chief executive is keenly aware of how data is changing the advertising industry, but isn't letting it happen at the expense of creativity. On Tuesday, Adweek CEO Jeff Litvack sat down with Philippe Krakowsky, who succeeded Michael Roth as IPG CEO at the beginning of 2021, for a discussion titled The Path Forward: Realizing Higher Value to close out the first day of Adweek's Outlook 2021 virtual event. Krakowsky focused on the disruption that has shaken the industry, finding a balance between data and the traditional work of agency creatives, and being respectful of consumers. Prioritizing first-party data Krakowsky credited the upheaval of the past year with contributing to a sense of immediacy in working relationships within the agency and with clients, who regularly checked in for advice and counsel. The pandemic also served to accelerate existing trends, and forced agencies and clients alike to adapt faster and be more daring in making changes. More than Covid-19, however, he pointed to technology as the biggest disruptor in advertising. Trends such as the rising importance of data and analytics have been on the rise for years, something Krakowsky said informed IPG's decision to acquire data marketing company Acxiom in 2018, which he said gave IPG both a large data asset and first-party data management expertise. In a Cookieless World, Weather Data Can Forge a Connection Between Marketers and Consumers "I don't have conversations with anyone in the space who's not trying to figure out a point of view about identity and putting first-party data to work, tying it up to other data sets, retaining something that's proprietary and powerful [as a marketer]," he said. "There isn't a person who isn’t talking about the importance of data and getting the balance right between putting it to work, while being respectful of the craft and ideas part of our business and the humanity of consumers," Krakowsky added. "You have to start thinking about the ethics part of processing data, data scientists and the algorithms themselves." He said IPG is dealing with issues around data privacy in a number of ways, crediting the holding company with being one of the first in the marketing space to appoint a chief privacy officer. Previously, IPG Mediabrands brought onboard global brand safety officer Joshua Lowcock, and IPG introduced its 10 media responsibility principles last year. "We collectively have a responsibility to hold the industry, platforms, everybody to a higher set of standards," he added. "It's an area where we’re advising clients, and some of the services we provided are more consultative than we would have provided five years ago or so." More client-centric services IPG aspires to be a strategic partner for clients with an ability to engage across a range of issues, he explained, and is looking to continue the company's evolution with more focus on precision and accountability. One thing not to expect from IPG? The type of consolidation we've seen from WPP over the past several years, most recently with the merger of AKQA and Grey to form AKQA Group. "We made a decision a long time ago to embed digital talent into all of our agencies. What that meant was we could have a common language that meant when we asked agencies to work together on behalf of a client, there's already a shared playbook and language," Krakowsky explained. "We're big believers that agencies are where talent wants to engage and where we activate with clients." IPG Mediabrands Expands Creative Practice With Content Studio

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IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky on Disruption, Data and Privacy

Krakowsky stepped into the role at the start of 2021

Prioritizing first-party data

Erik Oster

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Erik Oster